


True Strength

by annabeth



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: (one f-bomb), Angst, Canon Relationships, F/M, Language, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Unrequited Love, villains tormenting heroes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:54:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24304018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annabeth/pseuds/annabeth
Summary: "How does it feel, Kagome?" Naraku asked, watching her watching the tableau unfolding in front of her; Inuyasha and Kikyo, embracing beneath the flowering branches of the sacred tree.
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome & InuYasha, InuYasha/Kikyou (InuYasha)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	True Strength

**Author's Note:**

> written for "strong" on my Get Your Words Out Yahtzee prompt set #5.

"How does it feel, Kagome?" Naraku asked, watching her watching the tableau unfolding in front of her; Inuyasha and Kikyo, embracing beneath the flowering branches of the sacred tree. "Can you see how much he loves her, even now?"

"Shut up, Naraku," Kagome said. She would not be swayed by his words; her mind was clear!

"She betrayed him and killed him, and he wants only her. He loves her so deeply he will never be able to look at anyone else as long as he lives, however long or short that may be." Naraku's tentacles waved in the air, but he wasn't attacking her directly—yet. "Not that it will be very long, but see how happy he looks? Just to hold her in his arms." Naraku swept closer and Kagome jumped back, nocking the arrow to her bow.

Before them, unable to hear or see them, apparently, was a disheartening scene: Kikyo, held so tenderly in Inuyasha's arms, the soft sparkle in her eye, the glitter of a possible tear in his, even as he lowered his head and kissed her; even as she looped her arms around his neck and melted into him, kissing back just as fervently. Kagome swallowed, her heart feeling squeezed by the power of their love—but she wasn't going to let Naraku get to her, no matter how much Inuyasha loved Kikyo! Even if Inuyasha could never be hers, she still held onto parts of his heart that Kikyo didn't have.

"Look at them, Kagome. Lovers to the very end. Did you know that she allowed him many more liberties than that? Did you know, even, that he took her body right beneath this tree, fifty years ago? He'll never look at you that way, Kagome; not the way he looks at her. He'll never _want_ you." Naraku chuckled. "Poor lost Kagome, heartbroken and unwanted."

"I'll always protect you, Kikyo," Inuyasha was saying in a low, vehement tone. "You'll never be hurt as long as I'm around." He kissed her again, and she wound her fingers in his hair; the long silvery strands flowed around them like a river as she played with it, and she was pressing up against his chest—he had to be acutely aware of her breasts where they contacted him. He lifted his head a little and traced her shining lower lip with one finger. "I love you, Kikyo." Now that glitter in his eye was definitely a tear. But wasn't that odd? Inuyasha never cried. He hadn't even cried when he thought Kikyo was gone forever. There was just… something… she couldn't put her finger on. What was it?

One of Kikyo's hands left his hair and caressed his face. "Oh, Inuyasha," she whispered, though somehow it was loud enough for Kagome to hear. "I'm sorry. I never should have shot you with that arrow."

"It's all right, Kikyo," he replied, gazing soulfully into her eyes. "That arrow pierced my heart in more ways than one. Even as I was dying, it reminded me of how much I loved you, of the fact that you had slain me with your arrows long before, made me desire to be human. To be with you."

"You see, Kagome? She's dead, she borrows the souls of dead girls to subsist, to cling to this perversion of life, but still he wants her. He can't see you, Kagome. He thinks only of her, all the time. He'd rather fuck a dead woman than touch you." Naraku chuckled again, clearly enjoying himself; it was how he operated, enjoying the pain and anguish of others. But Kagome was stronger than that; she didn't have to listen to him—even if he was telling the truth, it didn't have the power to hurt her when it left Naraku's mouth, his filthy, lying lips. "You've seen how it is. Whenever she's mentioned, or nearby, or he thinks she might be in trouble? He abandons you! Leave _him_ , Kagome. Come be a part of my body—your powerful spirit will sustain me!"

"I don't think so, Naraku! He might not want me—he might never want me—but I still love him, and you can't touch that. You can't pervert that. I _know_ he loves Kikyo; that he always has. That's not a surprise to me! But that's okay. If she makes him happy… well, I just want to be by his side, and he allows that. Maybe he'll never be able to love me, but I can live with that. Can you, Naraku? Can you live with knowing he had Kikyo—but you never did and you never will?"

"Curse you, woman!" Naraku screamed. "I'll have your head—it will be delicious to add all your suffering and heartbreak to the Shikon Jewel!"

"Aren't you listening, Naraku? I'm not heartbroken. I'm happy just to be with him, whether he wants me or not!" She pulled back on the arrow, squinting as she took aim. She was no longer captivated by the scene in front of her. Let Inuyasha have his stolen moments with Kikyo—she had bigger fish to fry, namely, trying to destroy Naraku with a sacred arrow. "Naraku!" she shouted. "Kikyo is a good woman, even now! She loves Inuyasha, and he loves her. I'd never do anything to come between them But—"

One of Naraku's tentacles speared forward and wrapped around her, knocking the bow and arrow from her hands. He began to pull her inexorably towards his disgusting, bloated body, in its enormous, twisted form. Kagome met his eyes and refused to scream; Inuyasha might love Kikyo—might desire her and always protect her—but he protected Kagome, too. He wouldn't let Naraku have her.

The moment she stared into Naraku's eyes, the air around them shimmered, and she could see flakes of fairy dust floating, falling like snow. It was beautiful, but it cleared her mind somehow. Naraku was trying to do something—what was it? Kagome broke the look, twisted as best she could to look for Inuyasha and Kikyo—they were gone!

And then Tetsusaiga was thrust into her field of vision, slicing through the tentacle that held her, loosing her from Naraku's filthy grip.

"I'll kill you, Naraku!" Inuyasha snarled, his fangs on display. "Don't you hurt her!"

"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, bewildered, but only for a moment. Then she grabbed her bow and quiver off the ground. "Damn you, Naraku! That was a dirty trick!" She raised the bow. "Kikyo was never here, and that wasn't Inuyasha! I should have seen through you. I _have_ seen through you. And you can't hurt me!"

"Oh, but I already have! That thorn in your heart will only grow, turning your heart to darkness so black you'll never escape, and—"

"No, Naraku," Kagome said, more quietly this time. "There's nothing you can do to turn my heart into poison, not like yours."

Inuyasha raised Tetsusaiga. He brought it down, yelling, "Wind Scar!" and they both watched, enraptured, even as it scored long scars into the ground, even as Naraku escaped. Inuyasha sheathed Tetsusaiga and came over to her, putting his arms around her.

"What happened, Kagome?" he asked, and she shuddered. Naraku was just so disgusting in the way he thought, the things he did. "Did he hurt you?"

"Of course not," she said. She knew she was smiling. "You came for me."

"And I always will," Inuyasha said. "You know I'll protect you." He held her a little closer, and Kagome thought,

_He may love Kikyo, but he loves me a little, too. Even if it's not the same, Naraku can't touch that. He can't twist Inuyasha's heart either._

"Something wrong, Kagome?" Inuyasha asked. She shook her head against his chest; his heart beat strong and true beneath his ribcage, and Kagome simply enjoyed it, that he was vibrant and alive and even if it was just friendship, that she was in his arms.

"Mm-mm, no," she said, and allowed herself to be held. "Nothing at all."

END


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